Blackstone has officially completed its $1.6 billion acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF), ending a six-year run by the London-listed investment trust that amassed a catalog of 65,000 copyrights, including songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Journey, Shakira and Neil Young.
Following a shareholder vote on July 8 and court approval on Friday (July 26), the takeover plan was submitted to the Guernsey registry on Monday (July 29), according to a regulatory filing. As a result, all of HSF's shares are now owned by Blackstone and trading was suspended on Monday. HSF shares are expected to be delisted from the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning (July 30).
By obtaining effective, Robert Naylor, Cindy Ramperso, Francis Keeling, Christopher Mills and Simon Holden resigned from the HSF board. Ben KatowskyCEO of Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM), and Dan PowderCFO of HSM, were appointed to the board of directors.
The deal allows Blackstone to consolidate its interests under the Hipgnosis umbrella. In 2021, Blackstone launched a $1 billion partnership with HSM to acquire and co-manage music catalogs. As part of the deal, Blackstone took a stake in HSM, HSF's investment adviser, and established Hipgnosis Songs Capital (HSC). HSC acquired rights to the music of a number of notable stars, including Justin Timberlake and Kenny Chesney in 2022 and Justin Bieber in 2023.
Led by former artist director Merck Mecuriadis, HSF went public on July 11, 2018 and raised £200 million ($260 million) to begin surveying the music industry for high-profile catalogs. Through subsequent offerings in 2019, 2020 and 2021, HSF raised its total capital to nearly 1.3 billion pounds ($1.67 billion). In March 2020, HSF became a constituent of the FTSE 250, an index that holds the 101st to 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange.
As the music industry soared due to the growth of streaming, HSF's public offering faced turmoil. By 2021, a deflated share price hindered HSF's ability to raise additional capital to acquire more catalogs. Shareholders were frustrated by a series of missteps and voted against continuing in 2023, prompting HSF's board to conduct a strategic review that produced overstated revenue and profit figures. Mercouriadis stepped down as CEO of HSM in February and stepped down as chairman in July. Blackstone emerged as the highest bidder in April, beating out Concord, which had bid $1.4 billion earlier that month.
